LEADING-EDGE SPIKES TO REDUCE THE DRAG OF WINGS AT SUPERSONIC AIRSPEEDS

Abstract

A 12-percent-thick section (NACA 0012) wing panel with leading-edge spikes was tested at a Mach number of 1.88 to determine whether the wing drag could be reduced in such a manner that the ratio of maximum lift coefficient at landing speed to minimum drag coefficient at high speed would compare favorably with the ratio obtained from a thin, high-speed wing. A 6-percent-thick high- speed wing section (NACA 65-006) was tested to provide comparison data for the thick wing. A drag reduction of 20 percent (compared to the plain wing) was obtained when spikes protruded forward ten times the leading-edge radius. This drag reduction was obtained with a spike spacing of 5 percent of the chord. This drag reduction was not enough to make the ratio of maximum lift coefficient to minimum drag coefficient for the thick wing compare favorably with that for the thin wing.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 1957
Accession Number
AD0658330

Entities

People

  • Richard M. Hartley

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aerodynamic Characteristics
  • Aeronautics
  • Airfoils
  • Aspect Ratio
  • Bodies
  • Bodies Of Revolution
  • Boundary Layer
  • Drag Reduction
  • High Lift Devices
  • Leading Edges
  • Mach Number
  • Model Basins
  • Pressure Distribution
  • Reynolds Number
  • Shock Waves
  • Thick Wings
  • Thin Wings

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Aerodynamics.
  • Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Dynamics.

Technology Areas

  • Hypersonics
  • Hypersonics - Hypersonic Flow
  • Space
  • Space - Hall-Effect Thruster
  • Space - Orbital Debris